Fort Hernandez evicted by 100 LAPD

The story NOT told by KTLA (family tricked into foreclosure, attempted to work with the bank for years, found six items of foreclosure fraud). If you've ever wanted to see how the media LIE this is it, through omission:

Nearly 100 personnel from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department carried out an eviction operation Thursday morning at a foreclosed Van Nuys home that became a rallying point for protesters.

The home at 14620 Leadwell St. was at the center of a long-running neighborhood dispute. In 2007, Javier Hernandez bought the home, but his payments stopped after his adjustable rate increased.

The home became a make-shift fortress that included a sign that read, "Save Our Community, Stop Foreclosures." A group of Occupy LA protesters had been living at the home in protest of the homeowners' eviction for nearly two months, according to the sheriff's department.

(More text at the link. Gee. NBC also seemed to somehow miss reporting that the family were tricked into foreclosure and that there were six items of FRAUD against them.)

Fort Hernandez stood for more than four months, surviving police harassment and even the sic'ing of the Department of Public Health and the Department of Child Services (responding to bogus complaints that the residence did not have running water) on the Hernandez' by the powers that be.

I don't know why Bank of America wouldn't negotiate a deal with the Hernandez family. But one thing we can be pretty sure of given all we know about the practices of BofA and other large banks -- they are almost certainly lying:

Javier Hernandez purchased the property for his mother seven years ago. At the recommendation of the bank, he stopped making payments in order to receive a loan modification but was met with repeated rejections. His story is typical of those people, predominantly Black and Brown, who were sold subprime mortgages at the height of the housing boom. Like so many others, Javier's father was deported, Javier lost his job, and the value of the house plummeted. His younger brother Ulises' affiliation with community activists and an eviction notice led to the encampment action. Javier has since found employment, so, just days before the bank ordered the eviction, he came to a settlement with the mortgage trustees and was waiting for court approval. He elaborated, “We presented sufficient income to make the payments, and yet they still came in and evicted us right before New Year's Eve.”

With the block closed off by police vehicles, the protestors gathered a block and a half from the home. Heather commented on the scene right after the eviction. “Mama Lupe is sitting on the curb, the guy shows up in his Mustang with six trucks, a moving truck and a tow truck, he tells the police 'I'm with the bank,' and the police just wave him on. When we started yelling at him, the police surrounded his car in protection.”

A police cruiser pulls out, and someone shouts, “Donut run!” The early morning scene is a game of taunting the police and dueling video cameras, interrupted by media crews. But the protestors' underlying determination is implacable. As Adam explains, “The LAPD and the Los Angeles Police Department committed a gross and violent of violation of the United Nations Declaration's human right to housing under Article 25. What we see here is an extension of the police state. Look at this: forty sheriffs' deputies, a hundred and some odd cops, this is ridiculous, all with messed up attitudes, all standing there like they're not messing up this family. There's something in court to stop all this but they don't care. The justice system is not designed for the people. It's an injustice system, it's only a justice system if you have money. That's done.”

Bilal adds, “Multitudes and masses of police officers came for an eviction. We're not done, we're not through, we're going to keep up the resistance, we going to keep up the fight for the human right to housing.” Jesus frames the events in the worldwide economic failure: “It's another clear example of why capitalism doesn't work. Profit before people, right? Isn't that the logo? The fact that we think still have people who think we have the courts on our side, that's crazy. At least we made it through Christmas.”